ROBERT HIGHT AND AAA FUNNY CAR ON PACE FOR ST. LOUIS WIN
ST. LOUIS — Last weekend at Maple Grove Raceway Robert Hight and the AAA Missouri Chevrolet Camaro raced to 
a semifinal finish and proved that Hight is ready to defend his 2017 Mello Yello NHRA Funny Car title. The Funny Car, which is bannered with Auto Club’s End Distracted Driving initiative and messaging posted the three quickest runs in each round of eliminations on Sunday running 3.941, 3.946 and 3.982 seconds, respectively. Hight was ousted in the semifinals by a rare red-light start but the veteran driver will only use that misstep as motivation.
“I had been cutting good lights all day and was just too aggressive. Obviously, that was not the way we wanted to end the weekend,” Hight said after the race in Reading, Pennsylvania. “This AAA Camaro was running great, and we would have had that round win and probably won the race. Jimmy Prock and Chris Cunningham figured this car out from qualifying. Turning it around like that gives me all the more confidence in this AAA team. I believe we have the car to beat. We’re ready to head to St. Louis, we moved up in the points and we’re going to keep it going.”
The confidence in Prock and Cunningham is not a new revelation for Hight. Throughout the season the Auto Club Camaro has been one of the most feared Funny Cars on the NHRA tour. They opened the season with a runner-up finish at the season opening Winternationals and never looked back. Over a five race stretch in April and May Hight raced to two more runner-ups and capped the stretch with his first win of the season in Chicago.
“That five race streak at the first part of the summer was a great run for us and one that I think we can improve on for this Countdown,” Hight said. “We had three final rounds with a win on some tricky race tracks in hot conditions. Jimmy and Chris have been working on the tune-up and we saw the results on race day in Reading last weekend. We were the quickest car on race day and I think we can pick up right where we left off for this St Louis race.”
Hight picked up his 43rd career Funny Car win in Sonoma and has sharpened his focus on his quest for a third Mello Yello Funny Car championship. In his career racing at Gateway Motorsports Park Hight has a win from the 2010 race and three additional semifinal finishes. He has been the No. 1 qualifier the past two years in a row at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals and has qualified in the top three eight times.
“This is a big race for the AAA Funny Car team,” said Hight. “We love racing in St Louis and this is the first of three sponsor races in the Countdown for us. We would love to sweep the Auto Club races which I think would put us in a great position to win the championship. It won’t be easy but I learned a lot about myself racing for the championship last season. I am a much better driver and I want to show that this weekend at Gateway.”
“The track owner Curtis Francois and his staff at Gateway have really turned this track around and I am sure we will have huge crowds this weekend. I want as many people as possible to see this End Distracted Driving Auto Club Camaro since it is promoting such an important message. The response from the fans was amazing last weekend and I got so many comments about the car, fans saying what a great campaign this is,” added Hight.
Qualifying at the AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals begins Friday with two sessions at 4:30 and 7 p.m. and continues Saturday with sessions at 3 and 5:30 p.m. Eliminations at Gateway Motorsports Park begin Sunday at 11 a.m.
